“These issues around sexual exploitation of young women and girls are immensely serious.

“This is a type of crime that has been hidden away for so long.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper

“We need to see real leadership in the Home Office on this and for these issues to be made a national priority.

“We need to be carrying out prevention work in schools and that includes better sex education.

“We need to talk to all our young people - girls and boys - about violence and respect in relationships so that we can guard the next generation against abuse and crime.

“We also need stronger powers for police to intervene.

“We want to strengthen warning orders that prevent predators from approaching young people.

“These are used informally at the moment and they need to be strengthened so that it is a criminal offence to approach the young person again.

“This is important as it can take a long time to build a prosecution case against a perpetrator.”

Home Secretary Theresa May has set up a national abuse inquiry which will take in Operation Sanctuary as well as investigate the historic abuse which was unearthed at Medomsley Detention Centre, near Consett in County Durham.